Online calculator

1. Locate an online calculator. This calculator will help determine the minimum food storage requirements for each person in your family for one year.

2. Type in the number of people in your family and hit calculate. Take out your notepad and pen, and take notes on every suggestion in the food calculator.

3. Make a notation for each section of food staples. Most calculators are divided into seven sections: grains, legumes, sugars, milk, cooking essentials, water, and fats and oils.

4. Tailor your food storage lists to your family. If certain members of the family do not eat from certain items on the food calculator, subtract those items and substitute others on your food list. For example, under the legumes category, if your family does not eat lima beans, cross those off your list and substitute the correct amount of another bean, for protein, in its place.

5. Add favorite, nonperishable foods for each family member on your list. According to the CPS Container and Packaging Supply website, "Only buy and store the kind of food you will eat."

6. Adjust the food calculator to fit your own family's strengths and limitations. If you know your family eats more than its share of peanut butter, add more peanut butter to your list. If you know your family has more of a sweet tooth than average, adjust each calculation.